Strongest Demigod System-Chapter 115: New Abilities
[The Government Funded Dorm.]
Azrael thanked Maddison's driver as he got out of the car and walked into the dorm. There was no one awake, and he was happy that he didn't have to explain his dirty, burnt clothes to them.
He was sure they would see it on the news tomorrow anyway.
Azrael headed straight into the bathroom in his shared room and shut the door behind him before he fell to the ground with a tired sigh and leaned back on the door.
Today was too much for him.
The first thought that came to his head at that moment was Maddison and what happened in her room, but he shook that out of his thoughts quickly. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted by love right now.
What happened was nice and he wouldn't deny that he enjoyed it, but it didn't mean anything.
His life was too complicated for him to be thinking of adding a girlfriend to it.
Instead, Azrael focused on the more important things.
Azrael didn't think that Harold would have an artifact that was so powerful, and the Fallen Angel was the last thing Azrael expected to fight.
Azrael took off the suit jacket while slowly getting to his feet, and then he took off his shirt to reveal his muscular figure.
Right there, on his left shoulder, was the large Divine Rune.
The [Mark of The Fallen] had been carved into his skin with blackened ink, making it look like a raw tattoo. It spread from his left breast to his shoulder and down his bicep before also moving along the left side of his back.
The rune looked similar to the ones that had been carved into the shield and lance of Jahosabeth, but Azrael couldn't understand anything of it other than the fact that it was a curse.
When the system said he was going to receive a gift from the Extinguished Light, he really thought it would be something that wouldn't fuck him over.
But as Azrael thought about it a little more and read through the description that the system sent to him, he realized that he might be judging the runes too quickly.
The first effect of the rune was that it would negate all forms of holy energy.
And although one way to look at that was by saying it would prevent you from being able to use any holy artifact, another way to look at it was that it would prevent any form of holy attack from affecting you.
Azrael didn't know if the Radiant Sun that Jahosabeth used to attack him was a holy attack or not, but if it was, then this mark would allow him to stand against it without taking damage.
It was unfortunate that there were so many disadvantages attached to it.
But even with those disadvantages, there were still benefits.
Azrael read over the part of the description that said he could summon part of the [Fallen Angel]'s ability in exchange for Divine Essence, and he tried to focus on his core and sent his Divine Essence through the nerve-like pathways in his body.
The Divine Essence traveled across his chest and towards his arm, and the runes on his shoulder immediately started to burn!
"RARGH!"
Azrael released a loud cry of pain as the runes turned red hot once they received his Divine Essence, and he stumbled to one knee! He grabbed the shoulder as the burning seemed to increase in intensity, and he closed his eyes tight to try and ride out the pain.
Finally, after a few seconds, the pain calmed, and Azrael opened his eyes while releasing tired breaths.
...There were feathers falling around him.
Azrael's brow furrowed in surprise as he looked to the side and watched the black feathers falling to the ground. The feathers fell gently and floated to the ground before promptly vanishing in a burst of dark flames, and Azrael immediately stood up and looked in the mirror.
He had wings.
Two large, pure black wings with various white streaks running across their length had sprouted from behind him. They were folded like angel wings, and Azrael felt shock fill his entire body as he reached out and touched the new appendage!
It was soft, like real feathers, and the feeling of having something added to your body in this manner was almost too much for Azrael to comprehend.
He was suddenly feeling sensations that he knew he was never meant to feel.
The muscles handling the feathers were attached to his shoulder blade, and Azrael could sense them shifting as he flexed the wings. If he wanted to, he could spread them out like a bird's.
Azrael turned around slightly—
Clang!
A loud sound echoed through the bathroom as the wing threw one of the cups onto the sink to the ground, and Azrael cursed.
He quickly grabbed it before it made any more noise and listened to make sure that none of his roommates had woken up.
Once he was sure there were no voices from outside, he went back to staring at his reflection.
The two wings were large, and Azrael was sure that they would be over six meters [20 feet] in span when spread out.
Is this what the system meant when it said he would have some of the [Fallen Angel]'s ability?
[Would the user like to analyze the Unique Trait [Extinguished Light]?]
The system brought up this prompt once Azrael thought about his abilities, and he told it to open the tab.
…
The [Mark of The Fallen] from the Fallen Angel Jahosabeth has granted the user the unique Rune Trait [Extinguished Light]
Effects of [Extinguished Light]
-> The user has gained the [Shackled Wings of The Fallen]
-> The user has gained the Runebound Aspect [Radiant Sun]
…
Azrael was shocked to see the second effect on the list.
It was the same skill that Jahosabeth had used against him in his last attack—the surge of heat and light that almost killed him.
Azrael sighed and bowed his head tiredly before a broken laugh escaped his lips.
So he almost died against it, and now he could use it as well.
How ironic.
Azrael felt for the Divine Essence in his core and he noticed that his Essence was rapidly being drained the longer he supplied the Rune with power.
Azrael cut off the flow of Divine Essence, and he grimaced and gritted his teeth as the [Mark of The Fallen] burned with intensity once more.
Azrael cursed in his head while wondering if this was how it would be every time he tried to manipulate the Rune.
If this happened every time, then he would have to avoid using the Rune unless it was absolutely necessary. At least until he practiced enough to bear the pain.
As the Divine Essence left, the wings on Azrael's back slowly fell off in a shower of black feathers. The feathers all dropped to the ground silently before they began to burn up in a harmless dark fire, leaving the ground clean of any remnants.
Azrael took in another deep breath and moved on.
He took his gloves off and was happy to see that the Necrosis had cleared out. He turned to his system and checked the status tab.
…
Status: Cursed by Necrosis
Rate of Propagation: 1%
Days Till Complete Propagation: 14 Days
Comment: User is in the Safe Zone
…
The number of days had increased again.
Azrael felt a little relieved that his hypothesis had been correct.
He could increase the number of days between each rot by killing stronger opponents.
Harold Javier had a D-ranked core—just like Romanov—and killing him along with the multiple demigod guards gave Azrael more days before he had to seek out another kill.
Killing three F ranks gave Azrael seven days before the rot propagates, so he could deduce that a single F rank would give him about two days.
Killing a D and E rank gave him ten days, so it was likely that a D rank would give him about seven days, and an E rank would give him three days.
Azrael released a silent breath and leaned on the sink while looking at his reflection.
His eyes were sunken and tired from lack of rest, and his skin was dirty and pasty from the fight with Jahosabeth.
But with enough sleep, he should be back to a hundred percent tomorrow.
Azrael just had to hide the Runes on his shoulder from now on and make sure no one saw it.
Azrael knew that most of the demigods in his class still didn't even know what a Rune was since they had never seen one before, but there were some of them who would know about it, and there was a chance they would recognize it if they see his shoulder.
One final glance at his system had Azrael gaining a serious look on his face as his eyes landed on the Divine Core Rank and DE Capacity.
…
Divine Core Rank: E Rank
Divine Core DE Capacity: 770/500 DE
…
Azrael had long surpassed the DE limit required for him to rank up his core, and after killing both the Fallen Angel Jahosabeth and Harold Javier, he could feel his core cracking at the seams as the Essence in it overflowed.
This only meant one thing.
Azrael was now ready to begin the second step of the Lithany of Ascension.
